REVIEW

“On this week’s Undercover Country podcast, we reveal the identity of the mysterious ‘Silver Yodeler’, we play a re-telling by arguably, Ireland’s greatest storyteller, Eddie Lenihan, some German country and a blues group fronted by a viellist!” i.e. Gilles Chabenat and Hypnotic Wheel. Their Muddy Gurdy album blends into Dylan Fitzgerald’s very interesting playlist, mixing “odd and unusual country music from around the world”.

Digital Blues, in the U.K., brings every week “tracks from more new arrivals”… and gave Muddy Gurdy a spin: Going’ Down South’, Hypnotic Wheels playing with Cedric Burnside —and the dogs barking in the background.

The section starts at 19:00.

With the review at 27:52: “A track from a CD which I played last week, which I am loving. It is called Muddy Gurdy. It’s three French musicians playing, as they say: When French hurdy gurdy meets the North Mississippi Hill Country blues, featuring Cedric Burnside, Cameron Kimbrough, Pat Thomas and Sharde Thomas. These very different interpretations of some very well know songs.”

There are records that you discover by pure chance… on the internet. And this is maybe one of the few positive notes that I personally find in the arrival of the web in the music world: being able to have access to artists who otherwise would have been almost in our country unknown, alas. Here is a record that, for its beauty and its originality, deserves to be listened to. It is, without a doubt, among one of the best blues album that has been produced these days. […]

Perhaps the greatest merit of the project is the humility with which this collaboration has been done, without any musician ever wanting to overdo it. […] Fifteen pieces, ranging from traditional songs like Glory Glory Hallelujah, to songs written by the Americian artists involved, such as the wonderful That Girls Is Bad by Burnside or songs that have made the history of the blues like Muddy Waters’ Rollin ‘and Tumblin. […]

The record exudes passion and skill, intense but not easy. The songs are often long sessions with a signature groove and hypnotic sound, with percussion on the shields. The touch that the hurdy-gurdy gives to the whole album is the extra present. The fusion of two traditional musics does not distort them. On the contrary, they are improved, giving us the greatest result obtained by the French combo. […]

We all know that blues has a baby and that’s rock ‘n’ roll. But the blues has another kid and called it “Muddy Gurdy”. Where did it come from now? The story starts in France, inspired by a trio playing under the name of Hypnotic Wheels. […]

This French trio, composed by Tia Gouttebel (guitar, vocals), Gilles Chabenat (hurdy-gurdy, a traditional French instrument) and Marc Glomeau (percussion) traveled to Mississippi. And this incredible album was born. […]

The music is inspired by what the legendary blues musicians RL Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Othar Turner and James “Son” Thomas left us, and by what their are descendants, Cedric Burnside, Shardé Thomas, Cameron Kimbrough and Pat Thomas are now doing. They give the whole story authenticity. But to me personally it is somehow this French trio, Hypnotic Wheels, that gives some kind of “mojo” to all the songs. […]

All 13 songs will win you right away. The atmosphere, the relaxed style will bring you to your knees. I am still standing in the middle of my room and I simply cannot believe what I am hearing. This is just like blues. This is deeper and stronger than traditional blues. […]

The blues world is an interesting place –both because of the musicians who make the music and the diversity of sounds that emerge when different musical styles seemingly collide. The latter’s the case for this different and extremely interesting production, which combines some of the biggest names in North Mississippi Hill Country blues with a trio of Europeans who’ve melded French folk music with the American sound they’ve come to love.

Muddy Gurdy is composed of a trio who reinvented themselves after a successful folk career in France under the moniker of Hypnotic Wheels. The unit includes Tia Gouttebel on guitar and vocals, Marc Glomeau on percussion and Gilles Chabenat, who provides vocals in addition to playing the hurdy-gurdy, the instrument that provides half of the band’s name. […]

“Tia In The Rocking Chair” opens the set, and is exactly as titled: 46 seconds of peace, quiet and the sound of Gouttebel rocking gently in her seat on a porch. It’s a great mood setter for R.L. Burnside’s “Goin’ Down South,” which follows. From the first notes of this one, you realize quickly that this trio understand their medium and deliver it with great feel. Chabenat’s hurdy-gurdy mimics guitar lines in a warm, haunting manner as he trades licks with Gouttebel’s guitar atop a repetitive drum pattern. Gilles and Tia share vocals, and the hurdy-gurdy adds new, deep sounds to the traditional feel.

The instrument takes on the air of a violin as Cedric takes to the mike for his uptempo original “That Girl IS Bad,” which would keep folks up and moving on any juke dance floor, driven by syncopated drum patterns and his acoustic runs on slide. He also handles vocals for dad R.L.’s “See My Jumper Hanging On The Line” and Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ And Tumblin’,” delivered much like the acoustic 1940s original, but taken to a different level because by the hurdy-gurdy sound.

Fife and drum master Otha Turner’s “Station Blues” is up next, aided by granddaughter Sharde. Her voice graces his one as well as her own “Shawty Blues,” a moving ballad about chasing a dream but being misunderstood by the older generation, and a hurdy-gurdy and fife-powered take on the traditional “Glory Glory Hallelujah,” delivered in Hill Country style.

Cameron Kimbrough’s at the mike next for a cover of his original, “Leave Her Alone,” which has a more modern feel with him on electric guitar, and a droning take on granddad Junior’s “Gonna Love You.” Pat Thomas, son of the legendary James “Son” Thomas, joins the action for his ballad “Dream” before Tia holds her own on vocals for an uptempo cover of Jessie Mae Hemphill’s “She Wolf,” Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Shake ‘Em On Down” and Charles Singleton’s “Help The Poor” before a 3-minute, 45-second outro entitled “Highway 61,” which includes sounds of crickets, traffic and a solitary singer/picker delivering “Standing At The Crossroads,” brings the disc to a close.

If you love Hill Country blues, you’ll love this hour-long CD, which is available through most major retailers. The two art forms combine seamlessly and the production will have you feeling like you’re kicking back with the musicians on a warm summer’s eve. If you prefer your tunes urban and electrified, however, this one is definitely worth a listen but might be outside your comfort zone.

Three French musicians –Tia Gouttebel on vocals and guitar, Marc Glomeau on percussion, and Gilles Chabenet on the hudy gurdy (a traditional French instrument)– had a unique vision to combine the sounds of French music with the thumping drone of the music of the North Mississippi Hill Country. And what better way to pull that off than to spend some time in that region and immerse yourself in the music, played by some of the descendants of the Hill Country legends. After a year of preparation, the trio made it to Mississippi, in blues hotbeds such as Leland, Como, and B. B.’s birthplace, Indianola. The resulting recording is titled “Muddy Gurdy,” and shows how the blues has become a world-wide genre.’ Along for this joyous ride, we have Cedric Burnside, Sharde’ Thomas, Cameron Kimbrough, and Pat Thomas, adding to the air of authenticity due to their heralded lineage.

We were wholly unfamiliar with the hurdy-gurdy, but, in the skilled hands of Gilles, it sounds like a fusion of an accordion and a fiddle. Within the context of this material, it acts as a second guitar. The set opens with Cedric Burnside on guitar with a tune written by R. L. Burnside, “Goin’ Down South, where the chilly wind don’t blow.” He continues with a contemporary shout-out to his late brother wit the good-time rap of “That Girl Is Bad.”

Sharde’ Thomas brings her fife to the party with a nod to grandfather Otha Turner in “Station Blues,” a minor-key, dirge-like re-working of “Sittin’ On Top Of The World.” She becomes that “young woman chasin’ that big dream” on “Shawty Blues,” and closes her set with a traditional gospel read of “Glory Glory Hallelujah,” with Gilles’ hurdy-gurdy the perfect foil for her fife.

Cameron Kimbrough captures the energy and power of this music with the grungy “Gonna Love You,” as does Pat Thomas with our favorite. The set closes amid traffic noise in the background as Thomas’ eerie vocal takes you right down to the source of the mystery and myths of this region with his version of the crossroads tale, “Highway 61.”

With the addition of the French trio to the music of North Mississippi, “Muddy Gurdy” truly becomes a global affair. It further proves that two societies, as far apart in miles as they are in culture, can find common ground through the power of the blues!

By Sheryl and Don Crow, from the Nashville Blues Society, about Muddy Gurdy, Hypnotic Wheels’ second album which was released by VizzTone on February 2, 2018.

After That Girl is Bad, featuring Cedric Burnside, last week, Joe Cushley broadcasted Station Blues, a song Hypnotic Wheels recorded with Sharde Thomas on fife and vocals on their Muddy Gurdy CD, on his Balling the Jack show on Resonance FM in London —an inspiring show, not to be missed!

We have got Muddy Gurdy. This is another interesting project. If you were listening last week, the French band Hypnotic Wheels have always had an interest in the blues. Last year went over to North Mississippi and collaborated with some of the native musicians there, including Sharde Thomas, the granddaughter of Otha Turner, fife and drum farmer, and custodian of the old traditions of fife playing. And Cedric Burnside, son of the Burnside blues dynasty. And Pat Thomas…

The Hypnotic Wheels have got a hurdy gurdy player. The sort of mesmeric quality of the hurdy gurdy matched with the drone trance quality of North Mississippi blues. They produced something rather wonderful.

This is Station Blues and it is Sharde Thomas singing. It is from the fife and drums tradition but with added gallic hurdy-gurdyness.

Muddy Gurdy is absolutely one of the most interesting blues albums I’ve heard in recent years. Hypnotic Wheels, a trio of French musicians, Tia Gouttebel (guitar/vocals) Gilles Chabenat(hurdy-gurdy) and Marc Glomeau (percussion) embarked on a journey to the hills of North Mississippi to record with local blues artists who are tightly connected to the fabulous music of their elders. The recordings were made using a hurdy-gurdy as a second guitar and captured with an eight-microphone preamp and computer in someone’s house, porch, front yard, or historic landmark such as Dockery Farms or B.B. King’s Club Ebony. From Mississippi, the contributing artists are Cedric Burnside, Shardé Thomas, Cameron Kimbrough, and Pat Thomas.

I love the homage to R.L. Burnside, with the wonderfully hypnotic cover of “Goin’ Down South” and the driving beat of “See My Jumper Hanging on the Line”. It’s in these two tracks that the wonder of the hurdy-gurdy is revealed. Its swampy slide-like sound magically lends itself to trance blues music in a very fitting fashion. Cedric Burnside, grandson to R.L., appears with acoustic guitar in hand and mic for a beautiful performance. He pays a wonderful tribute to his late brother Cody Burnside on “That Girl is Bad”, and hangs around for a tantalizing cover of Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”.

Muddy Gurdy explores fife and drum music with Shardé Thomas. Thomas gives a delicate vocal and fife performance on “Station Blues”, a song by her grandfather and fife-master Otha Thomas. Her delivery of the traditional “Glory Glory Hallelujah” is stunning.

It’s a real treat to hear Cameron Kimbrough, tearing it up on guitar while singing his grandfather Junior’s “Leave Her Alone”. The rolling rhythm pulls me right in to its vortex of sound. Cameron inherently keeps the swirling melodic framework in place for his own original tune, “Gonna Love You”. Pat Thomas’ “Dream” is downright extraordinary. Sung and strummed by the son of James “Son” Thomas at the Highway 61 Museum in Leland, Mississippi, this folk-country blues song is a prime example of the inner-beauty of music.

At Dockery Farms, Gouttebel takes the vocal reins on Hypnotic Wheels’ rendition of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s classic “Shake ‘em on Down” which is followed up with a mesmerizing cover of Charles Singleton’s “Help the Poor”, first recorded by B.B. King in 1964.

I highly recommend this album, especially for fans of the North Mississippi Hill Country Blues.

After Gonna Love You, which was broadcasted last week, Live from the Midnight Circus spins Leave Her Alone, another song from Muddy Gurdy, Hypnotic Wheel’s latest CD. Tune in this Tuesday, February 6, 2018, at 9 am EST (3 pm Paris time, 2 pm London time) to Rock Radio UK BLUES at RRUK.

French folk musicians meet North Mississippi blues crusaders, stir two traditions together and make for a mix that’s equal parts front-porch good vibes and Hill Country hoodoo. Hurdy-gurdy player Gilles Chabanat sounds right at home alongside guitarist Cedric Burnside and others on simmering run-throughs of R.L. Burnside’s “Goin’ Down South” and “See My Jumper Hanging On The Line” and Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”. Fife-and-drum features “Station Blues” and “Glory Glory Hallelujah” are particularly captivating.